‘began as an epic expedition to the high Arctic. The body of work produced by some of the world’s best wildlife Elysium Artists for the Arctic’ photographers and artists reveals the magnificence of a white horizon, the charismatic icons of the polar north: polar bears and seals, the brotherhood of walruses, birds of the northern sky and the hypnotic attraction of icebergs and glaciers. The exhibition and book premiered in Singapore on 5th April 2017

Together with Marie Levine of Sharks Research Institute, I was at the 16th meeting of the Conference of Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Bangkok, Thailand.

Crusaders described the vote for mantas and sharks into Appendix II as a coming of age for the 40-year-old convention. Whilst these were good news for these apex animals of the ocean, the celebration was short-lived. The margins above the minimum threshold of a two-third majority for the Oceanic Whitetip, Hammerhead and Porbeagle sharks, were small. An attempt was thus made to re-open the debate on sharks after the conference voted in favour of regulating international trade in these three endangered species. If countries opposing the shark ban (led by China and Japan), can muster a third of the conference to re-open the debate, they would need only to convince four countries to change their minds to block the decision on oceanic whitetips. Delegates at the Cites conference went through a tense final session as some countries sought to overturn decisions taken during the two-week gathering.

Celebrate the Sea 2013 (7 – 9 June) was perhaps the most momentous, scoring the biggest milestone since its inception in 2002. This was the first time it was held in conjunction with World Oceans Day (8 June) and the first time the host country, Brunei, declared a ban on shark fins and all shark products.